Bill-pay integration

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods for bill integration are provided. Checks issued by a bill-pay vendor may be integrated into a daily issue file and be presented to a user for review. The review may include selecting one or more check service to be applied to a check. The presenting may including marking checks and images corresponding to items received from a bill-pay vendor. Credit card transactions initiated via a bill-pay vendor may be integrated into the daily issue file. Checks received from the bill-pay vendor may be numbered into a range that is not a user-generated range. Bill-pay integration may include just-in-time funding of payments initiated through the bill-pay vendor. The daily issue file may be accessed via a mobile device, and may be filtered based on an entitlement associated with the mobile device.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

Aspects of the invention relate to treasury management of expenditures.More specifically, aspects of the invention relate to expenditures paidby check.

BACKGROUND

Although transactions are increasingly executed online and usingtransaction cards, negotiable instruments continue to be used forexecuting transactions. A negotiable instrument, such as a check,includes an instruction of a customer of a financial institution. Theinstruction may include an order instructing the financial institutionto pay an amount to a payee.

A financial institution that is subject to an order to pay the amountmay be a drawee bank. The customer that orders the drawee bank to paythe amount may be a drawer or a payer.

The payee may receive the check as payment for services or goodsprovided to the payer. The payee may receive the check directly from thepayer.

The check may be issued by a bill-pay vendor. The bill-pay vendor mayprovide check issuing services to the payer. The bill-pay vendor mayreceive instructions from the payer. The instructions may direct thebill-pay vendor to generate one or more paper checks. The bill-payvendor may transmit the paper check to the payee.

The payee may present the check received from the bill-pay vendor fordeposit at a depositary financial institution (hereinafter, “depositarybank”). The payee may request that the amount noted on the check becredited to an account of the payee. The depositary bank may providefinancial services to the payee. A service provided by the depositarybank may include processing of a check issued by the payer.

Processing of a check may include receiving a check from the payee.Processing may include receiving a request from the payee to credit anaccount of the payee. The credit may correspond to a handwritten amountindicated in a segment of the check.

The depositary bank may receive the check and transmit a copy of thecheck to the drawee bank. The depositary bank may request that thedrawee bank transfer funds to the depositary bank. The funds maycorrespond to the amount indicated on the check. The funds may becredited to an account of the payee held at the depositary bank.

The drawee bank may provide services to the payer. The services mayinclude check services. The check services may include fraud detectionservices. The popularity of checks has been accompanied by check fraud.Check fraud may include a printing of a check that is not authorized bythe payer or the bill-pay vendor. Check fraud may include presenting anunauthorized check for deposit.

Upon receiving the copy of the check, the drawee bank may attempt toassess an authenticity of the check. To assess authenticity, the draweebank may attempt to detect a fraudulent check. A fraudulent check may bedetected by examining one or more segments of a check template. Forexample, upon inspection, a signature segment of a check template mayinclude a signature that does not correlate to a known signature of thepayer. A visual inspection of the check may indicate that a numericalsegment stating the amount may not correlate to a segment describing theamount in words.

Check services provided by a depositary or drawee bank may includepresenting a deposited check to the payer or payee for confirmation.Check services may include stopping payment on a check or temporarilysuspending processing of the check. Check services may include, prior todebiting an account of the payer, reconciling a deposited check with aledger of checks maintained by the drawee bank on behalf of the payer.Check services may include filtering deposited checks for suspicious orout of pattern checks.

Various check services provided by the drawee bank may streamline aprocessing of checks and reduce incidents of check fraud. However, adrawee bank may not have access to all checks issued in the name of thepayer. For example, check issued on behalf of the payer by a bill-payvendor may not be available to the drawee bank. The drawee bank may beunable to provide a variety of check services to the payer.

It would be desirable to provide a treasury management system thatprovides check services independent of an issuing source of a check. Itwould be desirable, therefore, to integrate apparatus and methods forbill-pay services into a treasury management system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent uponconsideration of the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative apparatus in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative arrangement in accordance with principlesof the invention;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative process in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 4 shows illustrative information in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative image in accordance with principles of theinvention;

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative process in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative process in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 8 shows illustrative information in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative arrangement in accordance with principlesof the invention;

FIGS. 10A and 10B show illustrative information in accordance withprinciples of the invention; and

FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C show illustrative information in accordance withprinciples of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Apparatus and method for bill-pay integration are provided.

The apparatus may include a treasury management system. The treasurymanagement system may include a check issuing apparatus. The checkissuing apparatus may be controlled by a bill-pay vendor. The bill-payvendor may be distinct from a drawee bank.

The check issuing apparatus may include a first non-transitory computerreadable medium having first computer readable program code embodiedtherein. The check issuing apparatus may include a first processorconfigured to execute the first computer readable program code. Thefirst computer readable program code in the check issuing apparatus,when executed by the processor, may configure the check issuingapparatus to receive a payment instruction from a payer. In response tothe payment instruction, the check issuing apparatus may issue a checkto a payee. The check may include first payment information.

The treasury management system may include a central managementapparatus (“CMA”). The CMA may be controlled by a drawee bank. The CMAmay include a second non-transitory computer readable medium havingsecond computer readable program code embodied therein. A secondprocessor may be configured to execute the second computer readableprogram code. The second computer readable program code in the CMA, whenexecuted by the processor, may configure the CMA to receive the firstpayment information from the bill-pay vendor.

The CMA may receive second payment information from the payer. A checkissued by the payer may include the second payment information. A payermay issue some checks directly and some checks via a bill-pay vendor.

The CMA may generate an issue file. The issue file may include the firstpayment information received from the bill-pay vendor. The issue filemay include the second payment information received from the payer.

The CMA may display the issue file to the payer. The issue file mayinclude a plurality of entries. The first payment information may be afirst entry in the issue file. The second payment information may be asecond entry in the issue file. The CMA may filter the issue file beforetransmitting the issue file to the payer. The CMA may filter the issuefile before displaying the issue file to the payer. The filtering may bebased on payer defined criteria or system set criteria.

For example, the payer may only wish to review a payment made to aspecific payee or a payment amount in a specific currency. The filteredissue file displayed to the payer may only include payments made to thespecific payee or payment amounts in the specific currency.

The CMA may prompt the payer to confirm or reject the displayed paymentinformation. The displayed payment information may include the paymentinformation received from the bill-pay vendor and the paymentinformation received from the payee. The issue file may integrate thefirst payment information received from the bill-pay vendor and thesecond payment information received from the payee. A rejection of thedisplayed payment information may correspond to placing a stop on acheck corresponding to the payment information.

The first payment information may include a first identifier, a firstamount and an account of the payer at the drawee bank. The secondpayment information may include a second identifier, a second amount andthe account of the payer at the drawee bank.

Generating the issue file may include assigning a third identifier tothe first payment information. The first payment information may includea first identifier assigned by the bill-pay vendor. Upon receipt of thepayment information from the bill-pay vendor, a new identifier may beassigned to the payment information. The new identifier may be the thirdidentifier. The third identifier may be different from an identifierassigned by the bill-pay vendor.

The third identifier may be a member of a set of identifiers. The set ofidentifiers may not include the first identifier. The set of identifiersmay not include the second identifier assigned to the second paymentinformation. The third identifier may distinguish a source of the firstpayment information (bill-pay vendor) from a source of the secondpayment information (payer). Based on the third identifier, the payerviewing the first payment information may visual identify a source ofthe first payment information. The third identifier may be a sequence ofnumbers, a logo, a color coding or any suitable identifier.

The CMA may receive payment information from a plurality of sources.Each source may be assigned a set of identifiers used to mark paymentinformation received from the source. Each set of identifiers may beunique. The identifier assigned to payment information may identify thepayment information as being associated with a particular source. Whenviewing the issue file, the payer may distinguish between paymentinformation received from different sources based on the identifierassigned to each entry in the issue file.

In response to a confirmation of payment information included in theissue file, the CMA may approve a request received from a payee. Therequest may ask the drawee bank to debit an account of the payer held atthe drawee bank. The account of the payer may be debited in response toa confirmation of the first payment information. The account of thepayer may be debited in response to a confirmation of the second paymentinformation.

The request may be received from a depositary bank. The request may bereceived from a payee. The request may correspond to a deposit of acheck by the payee. The payee may receive the check from the bill-payvendor. The payee may receive the check directly from the payer.

The request may correspond to a check deposited by a payee. If therequest of the payee corresponds to an entry in the issue file, thedrawee bank may debit the account of the payer held at the drawee bank.A request of the payee that corresponds to an entry in the issue filemay signify that the payer has authorized a payment corresponding todetails included in the request.

In some embodiments, a request may be paid by the drawee bank. In someembodiments, a request may not be paid by the drawee bank. In someembodiments, a request may be paid by the drawee bank without priorconfirmation by the payer.

If a request of the payee does not correspond to an entry in the issuefile, the system may associate the request with an exception flag. Theexception flag may represent an unauthorized or fraudulent check. Theexception flag may correspond to a payment that has not been reviewed bythe payer. The exception flag may correspond to a payment that meets oneor more threshold criteria defined by the payer and has not beenreviewed by the payer. The exception flag may correspond to a paymentthat, if the payment had been included in the issue file, would havebeen presented to the payer after a filtering of the issue file. Theexception flag may correspond to a reconciliation error.

The CMA may be configured to, in response to detection of the exceptionflag, present the flagged request to the payer. In response to aconfirmation of the request by the payer, the system may terminate anability of the payer to apply one or more check services, such asreturning a check. Returning the check may include recovering fundswithdrawn from an account of the payer. The confirmation may correspondto the payer overriding a reconciliation error associated with theexception. In response to overriding a reconciliation error, the CMA maybe configured to add an entry to the issue file. The added entry maycorrespond to the exception.

A request may be one of a plurality of requests. The plurality ofrequests may be received from one or more payees. Each of the pluralityof requests may be associated with an exception flag. Each of theplurality of requests may have triggered a reconciliation error. The CMAmay be configured to present each of the plurality of requests to thepayer.

For some exceptions, the CMA may receive a confirmation from the payer.For each confirmation received from the payer, the CMA may be configuredto add an entry to the issue file.

For some exceptions, the CMA may receive a rejection from the payer. Foreach rejection received from the payer, the CMA may be configured todeny the request corresponding to the rejection. The CMA may beconfigured to temporarily deny the request and prompt the payer after anexpiration time to reaffirm the rejection. The CMA may be configured topermanently reject the request in response to receiving the rejection.The CMA may be configured to permanently reject requests that meet oneor more criteria defined by the payer. If the request has been paid bythe drawee bank, the CMA may be configured to initiate a claw-back orreturn procedure to recover the amount paid by the drawee bank.

Apparatus may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable mediastoring computer-executable instructions which, when executed by aprocessor on a computer system, perform a method.

The method may include electronically notifying a payer of a bill-paypayment status. The bill-pay payment may be associated with generationof a paper check. The check may have been issued by a bill-pay vendor onbehalf of the payer. The methods may include providing a payment statusindication in response to further processing of the paper check.

The methods may include, at a first computer system operated by a firstvendor, receiving a payment instruction from a payer. In response toreceiving the payment instruction, the methods may include generatingpayment information. The payment information may include a payee, anamount and a number of an account held at a second vendor. The secondvendor may be a financial institution. The second vendor may be a draweebank. The payer may maintain one or more accounts at the second vendor.

The methods may include, at a computer system operated by the secondvendor, receiving the payment information from the first vendor. Themethods may include associating a unique identifier with the paymentinformation received from the first vendor. The unique identifier maydistinguish the payment information received from the first vendor frompayment information generated by the second vendor or a third vendor.

The methods may include receiving a request from the payee for atransfer of the amount from the account of the payer. The request maycorrespond to a deposit of the paper check corresponding to the paymentinformation. The request may be received from a depositary bank. Thetransfer may include transferring the amount to an account of the payeeat the depositary bank. The depositary bank may be the drawee bank.

The methods may include displaying the payment information to the payerbefore granting the request of the payee. In response to the display ofthe payment information, the payer may affirm or reject the request.

The methods may include reconciling the request of the payee with thepayment information received from the first vendor. The paymentinformation received from the first vendor may be included in an entryof a ledger. The entry may include a digital image of the paper check.The ledger may include payment information received from a plurality ofvendors. Each of the plurality of vendors may issue checks on behalf ofthe payer. Each of the plurality of vendors may generate paymentinformation in response to receiving an instruction from the payer. Eachof the plurality of vendors may transmit payment information generatedon behalf of the payer to a central location. The central location maybe a drawee bank of the payer.

If the request of the payee does not correspond to the paymentinformation included in the ledger, the methods may include classifyingthe request as an exception. The methods may include displaying theexception to the payer. The display may include prompting the payer toapply a check service to the request. The check service may be anysuitable check service. Illustrative check services are shown below inTable 1.

TABLE 1 Illustrative check services. Illustrative Check Services Holdpayment Stop/reject payment Approve payment Reconciliation Contact payeefor signature verification Return of funds transferred to payee

The methods may include configuring the second computer system to rejecta payment of the amount associated with the exception. The methods mayinclude approving a payment of the exception in response to aconfirmation of the amount by the payer.

The methods may include displaying, adjacent to the exception, anindicator corresponding to the first vendor. The indicator maycorrespond to an identifier associated with the first vendor.

A payment instruction may be one of a plurality of payment instructions.The plurality of payment instructions may include a first paymentinstruction transmitted from the payer to the first vendor. Theplurality of payment instructions may include a second paymentinstruction transmitted from the payer to the second vendor.

Each of the plurality of payment instructions may be issued by a payer.Each payment instruction may correspond to the issuance of a paper checkon behalf of the payer. The methods may include receiving the pluralityof payment instructions from the payer.

A payment request may be one of a plurality of payment requests. Eachpayment request may correspond to a deposit of a paper check by a payee.The paper check may have been issued to the payee on behalf of thepayer. The methods may include receiving the plurality of paymentrequests from a plurality of payees. Each of the plurality of payees mayhave deposited a check that includes an account number of the payer.

The methods may include reconciling each of the plurality of requestswith a ledger. The ledger may be an electronic ledger. The ledger mayinclude a plurality of entries. Each entry of the ledger may correspondto a payment instruction issued by the payer. The methods may includeapproving each of the plurality of payment requests that are reconciledwith at least one of the plurality of entries in the ledger.

The methods may include approving each of the plurality of paymentrequests that are reconciled with at least one of the plurality ofpayment instructions. The methods may include displaying, to the payerfor confirmation, each of the plurality of payment requests notreconciled with at least one of the plurality of payment instructions.The methods may include displaying, to the payer for confirmation, eachof the plurality of payment requests not reconciled with at least one ofthe plurality of entries in the ledger.

The first payment instruction may include a bill-pay authorization totransmit a credit card payment to the payee. The methods may includeincorporating the authorized credit card payment into a ledger entry. Adrawee bank may maintain the ledger and receive the payment instructionfrom the bill-pay vendor. The methods may include receiving a requestfrom the payee to charge a credit card of the payer. The methods mayinclude reconciling the request of the payee with the ledger.

If the ledger includes an entry corresponding to the charge requestsubmitted by the payee, the charge may be approved. If the ledger doesnot include an entry corresponding to the charge request, the chargerequest may be presented to the payer for review. When reviewing thecharge request, the payer may be prompted to approve or reject thecharge request. The payer may elect to wait a period of time beforeapproving or rejecting the charge request. The methods may includetransmitting a notification to the payer informing the payer of pendingexpiration of the period of time.

If the payer does not take any further action after expiration of theperiod of time, the methods may include applying a default decision tothe charge request. The default decision may be one of a plurality ofdefault decisions. Each default decision may be associated with one ormore attributes. One of the default decisions may be applied to arequest if the request includes one or more attributes associated withthe default decision.

For example, the payer may instruct a treasury management system that ifthe payer does not take any further action after expiration of the timeperiod, and the request is for an amount above a threshold amount, therequest should be rejected.

Apparatus may include a computer system. The computer system may includea non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readableprogram code embodied therein. The computer system may include aprocessor configured to execute the computer readable program code. Thecomputer readable program code in the computer system when executed bythe processor configures the computer system to perform one or moretasks.

The computer may be configured to receive a bill-pay authorizationsubmitted by a payer. The bill-pay authorization may be submitted by thepayer to a vendor. The computer may be configured to receive a paymentauthorization issued by the payer. The payment authorization may beissued by the payer directly to a payee.

The computer may be configured to receive a debit request to withdrawfunds from a financial account of the payer. The debit request may besubmitted by a payee. The debit request may correspond to a checkdeposited by the payee. The debit request may correspond to a request tocharge a credit card of the payer.

The computer may be configured to reconcile the debit request with oneof the bill-pay authorization or the payment authorization. If the debitrequest does not correspond to the bill-pay authorization or the paymentauthorization, the computer may be configured to mark the debit requestas an exception. The computer may be configured to deny the debitrequest marked as an exception. The computer may be configured todisplay the debit request marked as an exception to the payer. Thedisplay may include prompting the payer to approve or reject the debitrequest.

The bill-pay authorization may be one of a plurality of bill-payauthorizations. The plurality of bill-pay authorizations may be receivedfrom a plurality of bill-pay vendors. Each bill-pay vendor may beresponsible for transmitting a payment to a payee on behalf of thepayer. The payment may be a paper check, a credit card authorization orany suitable payment method or device. The bill-pay authorization mayinclude an instruction to issue a check to a payee. The bill-payauthorization may include an instruction to charge a credit card of thepayer.

Each of the bill-pay authorizations may be transmitted by one or morebill-pay vendors to a central location. The central location may be afinancial institution. The financial institution may hold one or moreaccounts of the payer.

The payment authorization may be one of a plurality of paymentauthorizations. Each payment authorization may correspond to a paymentremitted by the payer directly to a payee without using a bill-payvendor. Each of the plurality of payment authorizations may betransmitted to the central location. The plurality of paymentauthorizations may be transmitted from different divisions, units orlines of business of the payer.

The computer system at the central location may be configured to receivea plurality of debit requests. Each debit request may correspond to abill-pay authorization or a payment authorization. The computer systemat the central location may be configured to reconcile a plurality ofdebit requests with the plurality of bill-pay authorizations and theplurality of payment authorizations.

The computer system at the central location may be configured to markone of the plurality of debit requests as an exception if one of theplurality of debit requests does not correspond to at least one of thebill-pay authorizations. The computer system at the central location maybe configured to mark one of the plurality of debit requests as anexception if one of the plurality of debit requests does not correspondto at least one of the payment authorizations.

Using a computer system at the central location, a payer may view theplurality of debit requests. Using the computer system at the centrallocation, the payer may filter the plurality of debit requests. Forexample, the computer system may be configured to display to the payereach debit request associated with: (1) an exception and (2) a specificbill-pay vendor.

The computer system may be configured to, in response to an approval ofthe credit card payment, transmit a notification to the payer after thepayee has received a credit corresponding to the credit card charge.

Apparatus for bill-pay integration are provided. The apparatus mayinclude a treasury management system.

The treasury management system may include a check issuing apparatuscontrolled by a bill-pay vendor. The check issuing apparatus may includea first non-transitory computer readable medium. The firstnon-transitory computer readable medium may include first computerreadable program code embodied therein. The check issuing apparatus mayinclude a first processor. The first processor may be configured toexecute the first computer readable program code.

The first computer readable program code in the check issuing apparatuswhen executed by the processor configures the check issuing apparatus toreceive a payment instruction from a payer. In response to receipt ofthe payment instruction, the check issuing apparatus may be configuredto issue a first check to a payee. The first check may include a set ofpayment attributes. Illustrative payment attributes are shown below inTable 2.

TABLE 2 Illustrative payment attributes. Illustrative check segmentsCheck number Check number Customer name Customer address 1 Customeraddress 2 Routing number Account number Payee segment Payee endorsementPayee Date Amount Dollars Comment Comment Signature Logo Bar Code

The treasury management system may include an account managementapparatus (“AMA”). The AMA may be controlled by a drawee bank. Thedrawee bank may not be affiliated with the bill-pay vendor. The AMA mayinclude a second non-transitory computer readable medium. The secondnon-transitory computer readable medium may include second computerreadable program code embodied therein.

The AMA may include a second processor configured to execute the secondcomputer readable program code. The second computer readable programcode in the AMA when executed by the processor may configure the AMA toperform one or more tasks.

The AMA may be configured to receive a first set of payment attributesfrom the bill-pay vendor. The AMA may be configured to receive a checkimage based on the first set of payment attributes. The AMA may insertone or more of the payment attributes into a check template. Thetemplate may be received from the bill-pay vendor or the payer. In someembodiments, the AMA may generate a check template based on checksprocessed on behalf of the payer.

The AMA may be configured to receive a digital image corresponding to asecond check issued by the payer. The second check image may betransmitted to the drawee bank from a depositary bank. The second checkimage may correspond to a check deposited by a payee. The second checkmay include a second set of payment attributes. The second set ofpayment attributes may include one or more attributes shown above inTable 2.

The AMA may be configured to display a first check image to the payer.The AMA may be configured to display the image of the second check tothe payer. The first check image and the second check image may bedisplayed to the payer substantially simultaneously. The first checkimage and the second check image may be displayed adjacent to eachother. The payer may be prompted to decide whether to apply a checkservice to the first check image or the second check image.

Applying a check service may correspond to an approval or rejection of alater submitted payment request received from a payee. Applying a checkservice may correspond to terminating an ability of the payer to recovera payment made to a payee of the check. Applying a check service maycorrespond to a payer recovering a payment made to a payee of the check.The payer and payee may be included in the first check image. Thepayment request may correspond to a deposited check.

The AMA may be configured to assign a first identifier to the firstcheck. The first identifier may be a member of a first set ofidentifiers. Each member of the first set of identifiers may correspondto a bill-pay vendor. Based on the first identifier, the payer mayidentify a source of the payment attributes included in a displayedfirst check.

The second check may include a second identifier. The second identifiermay be a member of a second set of identifiers. Each member of thesecond set of identifiers may correspond to a payment issued by thepayer. The payment issued by the payer may have been issued withoututilizing a bill-pay vendor.

None of the second set of identifiers may be a member of the first setof identifiers. The first set of identifiers may uniquely identify afirst source of payment attributes. The second set of identifiers mayuniquely identify a second source of payment attributes.

The set of payment attributes may be a first set of payment attributes.The AMA may be configured to generate an affirmation file. Theaffirmation file may include one or more entries. The AMA may generatethe affirmation file based on one or more sets of payment attributes.The affirmation file may include a first set of payment attributesreceived from a bill-pay vendor. The affirmation file may include asecond set of payment attributes extracted from a digital image of asecond check. Each entry in the affirmation file may include one set ofpayment attributes.

The AMA may be configured to present the affirmation file to the payer.The payer may review the affirmation file. A drawee bank may beinstructed not to allow a withdrawal of funds from an account of thepayer unless the payer approves of an entry in the affirmation file.After the payer approves an entry in the affirmation file, the draweebank may be authorized to withdrawn funds corresponding to the approvedentry. The AMA may be configured to amalgamate payment attributes from aplurality of sources into a single affirmation file. Each source may beassociated with a unique identifier or set of identifiers. A viewer ofthe affirmation file may distinguish between sources of information inthe affirmation file based on the unique identifier of each source.

The AMA may scrub the affirmation file. Scrubbing the affirmation filemay detect one or more anomalous entries included in the affirmationfile. The AMA may be configured to present the anomalous entries to thepayer for approval or rejection.

A set of payment attributes may be one of a plurality of sets of paymentattributes. The AMA may be configured to receive each set of paymentattributes from the bill-pay vendor. The AMA may be configured to assigna member of the first set of identifiers to each set of paymentattributes.

The first payment information may include information corresponding to aplurality of first payments received from a bill-pay vendor. Each of theplurality of first payment may be issued by the bill-pay vendor onbehalf of the payer. The AMA may be configured to receive a paymentrequest based on a first check transmitted to a payee by the bill-payvendor. The payment request may correspond to a check deposited by thepayee. The AMA may be configured to determine if the payment requestcorresponds to one of the plurality of first payments received from thebill-pay vendor.

If the payment request corresponds to one of the first payments receivedfrom the bill-pay vendor, the AMA may be configured to debit an accountof the payer an amount included in the payment request. If the paymentrequest does not correspond to one of the plurality of first paymentsreceived from the bill-pay vendor, the AMA may be configured to classifythe payment request as an exception. An exception may correspond to ananomalous entry in the affirmation file.

A digital image may be a first digital image. A payment request mayinclude a second digital image. The second digital image may begenerated after a payee deposits a check. The second digital image maycorrespond to a check deposited by the payee. The AMA may be configuredto associate the exception with a member of the first set ofidentifiers. The member of the first set of identifiers may indicate toa viewer a source of the exception.

Based on the first identifier, the AMA may be configured to display, tothe payer, the second digital image corresponding to the exception. TheAMA may be configured to prompt the payer to review the exception basedon the second digital image. In response to receiving a confirmationfrom the payer, the AMA may be configured to debit the account of thepayer the amount included in the exception. The confirmation maycorrespond to an overriding of a default status associated with theexception. The default status may be a check service such as the checkservices shown above in Table 1.

The first identifier may be a sequence of numbers, digits, colors or alogo corresponding to a source of payment attributes. The source may bea bill-pay vendor.

A treasury management system may include a mobile device. The AMA may beconfigured to receive an entitlement associated with the mobile device.The entitlement may be received from a payer. The mobile device may beassociated with an employee of the payer. Based on the entitlement, theAMA may be configured to filter an affirmation file. In response to arequest from the mobile device, the AMA may be configured to display thefiltered affirmation file. A user of the mobile device may approve orreject only contents of the filtered affirmation file.

The affirmation file may be filtered based on any suitable paymentattribute. Illustrative payment attributes are shown above in Table 2.

For example, the payer may wish to limit approve/reject decisions madefrom mobile devices to payment amounts less than a threshold amount. Asmall screen of the mobile device may increase a risk of an erroneousdecision being made using the mobile device. The AMA may filter theaffirmation file based on a payment amount of each entry in theaffirmation file.

The AMA may be configured to transmit a notification to the bill-payvendor. The notification may be transmitted in response to a rejectionof the first check image. A rejection of the first check image maycorrespond to placing a stop payment on a check corresponding to thefirst check image.

Apparatus for bill-pay integration are provided. Apparatus may include acheck issuing device. The check issuing device may be operated by abill-pay vendor. The check issuing device may include a first computersystem configured to receive a payment instruction from a payer. Thefirst computer system may be configured to generate payment informationbased on the payment instruction.

The check issuing device may include a check printer. The check printermay be configured to print a paper check in response to the paymentinstruction.

The apparatus may include a central management device (“CMD”). The CMDmay be operated by a drawee bank. The CMD may include a second computersystem. The second computer system may be configured to receive thepayment information from the check issuing device. The second computersystem may be configured to assign an identifier to the paymentinformation received from the check issuing device.

The CMD may be configured to generate a first check image. The firstcheck image may be generated based on the payment information receivedfrom the check issuing device. The CMD may integrate the paymentinformation into a check template. The check template may be familiar tothe payer.

The payment information may include any suitable payment attribute.Illustrative attributes are shown above in Table 2. Based on the paymentinformation, the first check image may include a payee, an identifier,an amount and a financial account of the payer. The financial account ofthe payer may be held at the drawee bank. The account of the payer maybe managed by the drawee bank.

The CMD may be configured to present the first check image to the payer.In response to receiving a confirmation from the payer, the CMD mayauthorize a transfer of the amount from the account of the payer to thepayee.

An identifier assigned to a first check may be a first number. The firstnumber may be a member of a first set of numbers. The first set ofnumbers may not include a second number. The second number may be amember of a second set of numbers. None of the second set of numbers maybe used to identify a check printed by the check issuing apparatus.

The CMD may be configured to calculate interest owed to the payer on theamount. The CMD may calculate interest as accruing to the payer untilthe amount is transferred to the payee. Interest may accrue to the payerafter the drawee bank transfers the amount to a holding account during acheck clearing process.

The drawee bank may not withdraw funds corresponding to the amount fromthe account of the payer until completion of a check clearing processassociated with the check corresponding to the first check image.

The CMD may be configured to generate a reconciliation file. Thereconciliation file may include first payment information received fromthe check issuing apparatus. The CMD may receive a digital imagecorresponding to a paper check generated by the check issuing apparatus.

The CMD may be configured to extract second payment information from asecond image. The second image may correspond to a check generated bythe payer or any entity other than the bill-pay vendor operating thecheck issuing apparatus.

The CMD may compare the first payment information to the second paymentinformation. The CMD may flag the digital image as an exception if thefirst payment information does not correspond to the second paymentinformation.

A treasury management system may include a mobile device. The CMD may befurther configured to receive an entitlement. The entitlement maycorrespond to access privileges to the treasury management system. Theentitlement may be associated with the mobile device. In response to arequest for a display of the reconciliation file from the mobile device,the CMD may filter the reconciliation file based on the entitlement.

The treasury system may include a network of mobile devices. Each mobiledevice on the network may be associated with one of a plurality ofentitlements. Each of the plurality of entitlements may correspond to aset of access privileges to the treasury management system.

Each mobile device on the network may be associated with at least one ofthe plurality of entitlements. Each entitlement may correspond to arestriction on access to the treasury management system. Each mobiledevice may be restricted in accessing the treasury management systembased on the entitlement associated with the mobile device.

Methods for electronically coordinating a flow of payments from a payerto a plurality of payees are provided. The methods may involve one ormore non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executableinstructions. The computer-executable instructions, when executed by aprocessor may perform a method for electronically coordinating a flow ofpayments from a payer to a plurality of payees. The processor andinstructions may be controlled by a computer system of a drawee bank.

The method may include receiving a payment instruction issued by apayer. The payer may issue the payment instruction to a bill-pay vendor.In response to receiving the payment instruction, the bill-pay vendormay generate a paper check on behalf of the payer. The paper check maybe transmitted to a payee. The bill-pay vendor may transmit the paymentinstruction to the computer system of the drawee bank.

The methods may include generating a digital image. The generating mayinclude marking the digital image. The marking may correspond to thebill-pay vendor.

The digital image may be one of a plurality of digital images presentedto the payer. The plurality of digital images may include digital imagesgenerated based on payment instructions issued by the payer to aplurality of bill-pay vendors. Marking the digital image may includeassigning an identifier to the digital image. The identifier maycorrespond to the bill-pay vendor that issued a paper check based on thepayment instruction received from the payer.

The methods may include presenting the digital image to the payer. Thedigital image may be presented to the payer before an amount indicatedon the check is transferred to a payee. The digital image may bepresented to the payer after an amount indicated on the check istransferred to a payee.

In response to a confirmation of the payment instruction by the payer,the methods may include removing a restriction preventing a payment ofthe check. The payer may confirm the payment instruction based onpayment information presented to the payer. The methods may includereleasing funds to a payee, i.e., paying the check, in response toreceiving a confirmation from the payer.

A payment amount of a check may be accessible to the payer until thepayment amount is transferred to the payee. The payment amount mayremain in an account of the payer until completion of a check clearingprocess associated with a deposit, by the payee of the check. The payermay continue to earn interest on the payment amount until the paymentamount is released to the payee. The payment amount may not be releasedto the payer until completion of the check clearing process.

Illustrative embodiments of apparatus and methods in accordance with theprinciples of the invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. It is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, functionaland procedural modifications may be made without departing from thescope and spirit of the present invention.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the inventiondescribed herein may be embodied in whole or in part as a method, a dataprocessing system, or a computer program product. Accordingly, theinvention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software,hardware and any other suitable approach or apparatus.

Furthermore, such aspects may take the form of a computer programproduct stored by one or more computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-readable program code, or instructions, embodied in or on thestorage media. Any suitable computer readable storage media may beutilized, including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices,magnetic storage devices, and/or any combination thereof. In addition,various signals representing data or events as described herein may betransferred between a source and a destination in the form ofelectromagnetic waves traveling through signal-conducting media such asmetal wires, optical fibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g.,air and/or space).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a computing device 101(alternatively referred to herein as a “server or computer”) that may beused according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention. Thecomputer server 101 may have a processor 103 for controlling overalloperation of the server and its associated components, including RAM105, ROM 107, input/output (“I/O”) module 109, and memory 115.

I/O module 109 may include a microphone, keypad, touch screen and/orstylus through which a user of device 101 may provide input, and mayalso include one or more of a speaker for providing audio output and avideo display device for providing textual, audiovisual and/or graphicaloutput. Software may be stored within memory 115 and/or other storage(not shown) to provide instructions to processor 103 for enabling server101 to perform various functions. For example, memory 115 may storesoftware used by server 101, such as an operating system 117,application programs 119, and an associated database 111. Alternatively,some or all of computer executable instructions of server 101 may beembodied in hardware or firmware (not shown).

Server 101 may operate in a networked environment supporting connectionsto one or more remote computers, such as terminals 141 and 151.Terminals 141 and 151 may be personal computers or servers that includemany or all of the elements described above relative to server 101. Thenetwork connections depicted in FIG. 1 include a local area network(LAN) 125 and a wide area network (WAN) 129, but may also include othernetworks. When used in a LAN networking environment, computer 101 isconnected to LAN 125 through a network interface or adapter 113. Whenused in a WAN networking environment, server 101 may include a modem 127or other means for establishing communications over WAN 129, such asInternet 131.

It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areillustrative and other means of establishing a communications linkbetween the computers may be used. The existence of any of variouswell-known protocols such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP and the like ispresumed, and the system can be operated in a client-serverconfiguration to permit a user to retrieve web pages from a web-basedserver. Any of various conventional web browsers can be used to displayand manipulate data on web pages.

Additionally, application program 119, which may be used by server 101,may include computer executable instructions for invoking userfunctionality related to communication, such as email, short messageservice (SMS), and voice input and speech recognition applications.

Computing device 101 and/or terminals 141 or 151 may also be mobileterminals including various other components, such as a battery,speaker, and antennas (not shown). Terminal 151 and/or terminal 141 maybe portable devices such as a laptop, tablet, smartphone or any othersuitable device for receiving, storing, transmitting and/or displayingrelevant information.

Any information described above in connection with database 111, and anyother suitable information, may be stored in memory 115. One or more ofapplications 119 may include one or more algorithms that may be used toreceive payment instructions, calculate interest, generate digitalimages, present digital images, assign identifiers to digital imagesand/or any other suitable tasks.

The invention may be operational with numerous other general purpose orspecial purpose computing system environments or configurations.Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/orconfigurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include,but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-heldor laptop devices, tablets, mobile phones and/or other personal digitalassistants (“PDAs”), multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-basedsystems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environmentsthat include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

The invention may be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines,programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Theinvention may also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotecomputer storage media including memory storage devices.

FIG. 2 shows illustrative arrangement 200. Arrangement 200 includespayer 201. Payer 201 may issue payment instructions 202 to bill-payvendor 203. Bill-pay vendor 203 may issue payment 205 to payee 207.Payment 205 may include a paper check. Payment 205 may include a creditcard authorization. Payment 205 may include any suitable payment methodor device.

Bill-pay vendor 203 may transmit payment instructions 202 to treasurymanagement system 209. Treasury management system 209 may generatedigital image 211 based on payment instructions 202. Treasury managementsystem 209 may present digital image 211 to payer 201. Treasurymanagement system 209 may present digital image 211 and check servicesthat may be applied to payment 205. For example, payer 201 may affirmpayment 205 when viewing digital image 211.

FIG. 3 shows illustrative process 300. For the sake of illustration, oneor more of the steps of the process illustrated in FIG. 3 will bedescribed as being performed by a “system.” The “system” may include oneor more of the features of the apparatus or arrangement shown in FIGS.1-2 and/or any other suitable device or approach. The “system” may beprovided by an entity. The entity may be an individual, an organizationor any other suitable entity.

At step 302, a payer transmits payment instructions to a bill-payvendor. At step 304, the bill-pay vendor issues a check to a payee andtransmits payment information to payer's bank. The payer's bank may be adrawee bank indicated on the check. At step 306, the payer's bankprepares an affirmation file. The affirmation file lists paymentinformation received by the payer's bank from the bill-pay vendor.

At step 308, the payer reviews a displayed version of the affirmationfile.

At step 310, the payer confirms or rejects the affirmation file, orselected contents thereof. At step 312, the payee deposits the checkissued by the bill-pay vendor. At step 314, the payer's bank receives animage of the check deposited by the payee and reconciles the depositedcheck with confirmations/rejections received from the payer.

If the payer, at step 310, confirms the first check image, when thepayee deposits the check, payment of the check may be fulfilled. If thepayer, at step 310, rejects the check, when the payee deposits the checkissued by the bill-pay vendor, payment of the check may be denied.

At step 316, the payer's bank continues to process the check for paymentto the payee if the check corresponds to confirmed payment information.At step 318, funds may be withdrawn from an account of the payer andcredited to an account of the payee. If the payer does not confirm thefirst check, funds will not be withdrawn from the account of the payerin response to the deposit of the payee.

FIG. 4 shows illustrative file entry 400. File entry 400 may a ledgerentry. File entry 400 may correspond to a payment instruction issued bya payer. File entry 400 may correspond to information received from abill-pay vendor. File entry 400 may include one or more fields such ascheck number 402, account identifier 404, payee 406, payee family 408,check date 410, check amount 412, dollars 414, comment 416, commentfamily 418, signature 420, scan location 422 and machine readableidentifier 423. Machine readable identifier 423 may include bar codedinformation.

Each of the fields may correspond to a segment of a check. A bill-payvendor may issue a paper check to a payee that includes each of thefields. The paper check may include one or more segment identifiers thatcorrespond to the field. For example, the segment identifiers mayinclude “DATE,” “PAY TO THE ORDER OF,” “DOLLARS,” “MEMO” and any othersuitable identifiers. Based on file entry 400, a drawee bank maygenerate a first check image for display to a payer.

FIG. 5 shows illustrative first check image 500. Image 500 may be firstcheck image generated by on payment information received from a bill-payvendor. Digital image 500 may be a template based on a paper checkissued by a bill-pay vendor.

Image 500 may include one or more segments. Each of the one or moresegments may be filled-in by a computer system. Each segment of image500 may correspond to information that may be included on the front of apaper check. In FIG. 5, a segment may be identified by one or morerectangular boxes. For example, image 500 may include one or more ofpayer name segment 502, payer address 1 segment 504, payer address 2segment 506, check number segment 508, date segment 510, payee segment512, amount segment 514, dollars segment 516, comment segment 518, payersignature segment 520, routing number segment 522, account number field524, check number field 526 and any other suitable segments.

Image 500 may include one or more segment identifiers. Each segmentidentifier may correspond to a type of information that is displayed onthe check to identify a check segment. For example, check image 500 mayinclude one or more of “check number” segment identifier 528, “date”segment identifier 530, “pay-to-the-order-of” segment identifier 532,“dollars” segment identifier 534, “memo” field identifier 536 and anyother suitable segment identifiers.

The generating of first check image 500 may include extractinginformation from a file. The extracted information may be inserted intoan appropriate segment of an image 500.

An illustrative method for inserting information into image 500 mayinclude identifying an origin “O” of the image 500. Origin O may beidentified as a location on check image 500 from which to quantify therelative locations of the segments. For example, origin O may becoincident with the lower left corner of a check upon which check image500 is based. Axis “x” may run along an edge of the check. For example,axis x may run along the lower edge of the check. Axis “y” may beorthogonal to axis x and may run along an edge of the check. Forexample, axis y may run along the side edge of the check. Locations ofeach of the segments may be quantified by coordinates based on the x-and y-axes.

For example, the location of a rectangular segment may be quantified asthe coordinates of four corners of a rectangle. Any other suitablescheme for quantifying segment locations may be used.

Generating image 500 may include generating text data. The text data maybe generated based on information extracted from payment information orinstructions received from a payer and/or bill-pay vendor.

For example, the text data may include a numerical identifier of thecheck. The numerical identifier may be the check number. The numericalidentifier may include segment 508. The text data may include theamount. The amount may correspond to numbers handwritten by the payer infield 514. The amount may correspond to words handwritten by the payerwithin segment 516.

The text data may include a drawee bank name. The drawee bank may beidentified based on segment 545. Segment 545 may be a logo associatedwith a drawee bank. Segment 545 may include text associated with adrawee bank. Segment 545 may include address or name informationassociated with a drawee bank.

The text data may include an account number on the check. The accountnumber may correspond to a MICR data 541 printed on a check. Segment 541may include a routing number 522. Segment 541 may include an accountnumber 524.

FIG. 6 shows illustrative process 600. For the sake of illustration, oneor more of the steps of the process illustrated in FIG. 6 will bedescribed as being performed by a “system.” The “system” may include oneor more of the features of the apparatus, arrangements or processesshown in FIGS. 1-5 and/or any other suitable device or approach. The“system” may be provided by an entity. The entity may be an individual,an organization or any other suitable entity.

At step 602, a payer's bank receives payment information from a bill-payvendor. The payment information may correspond to a payment transmittedby the bill-pay vendor to a payee. The payment may include a papercheck. At step 604, the payer's bank adds the payment information to areconciliation file.

At step 606, the payee deposits a check received from the bill-payvendor. At step 608, the payer's bank receives image of check depositedby the payee. The image may include one or more features of image 500(shown in FIG. 5).

At step 610, the payer's bank extracts information from an image of thecheck, such as image 500 (shown in FIG. 5). An illustrative method forextracting information from the digital image may include identifying anorigin “O” of image 500. Origin O may be identified as a location oncheck image 500 from which to quantify the relative locations of thesegments. For example, origin O may be coincident with the lower leftcorner of a check upon which check image 500 is based. Axis “x” may runalong an edge of the check. For example, axis x may run along the loweredge of the check. Axis “y” may be orthogonal to axis x and may runalong an edge of the check. For example, axis y may run along the sideedge of the check. Locations of each of the segments may be quantifiedby coordinates based on the x- and y-axes.

For example, the location of a rectangular segment may be quantified asthe coordinates of four corners of a rectangle. Any other suitablescheme for quantifying segment locations may be used.

Extracting the information from the digital image may includedeciphering a handwritten segment of the check. Deciphering thehandwritten segment may include converting a signature from ahandwritten entry into text. The converting may be performed by aprocessor. The processor may be further configured to run an applicationthat translates content of a segment from handwriting to estimated blocktext. The application may be any suitable application.

For example, the application may be an application such as thatavailable under the trademark PARASCRIPT® from Parascript, LLC,Longmont, Colo. The application may pre-process the segment content byapplying one or more mathematical filters to the segment content. Thefilter may include, for example, tools for line-detection, edgedetection, curve detection, shape detection, contrast adjustment,feature density (such as the amount of “ink” pixels per unit area offield or per unit length of a horizontal or vertical axis of the field),feature density distribution (such as the amount of “ink” pixels perunit area as a function of location in the field), topologicalquantification (such as the number, size, distribution and perimeter perunit area of closed forms in the content) and any other suitable tools.

The extracting may include deciphering information printed on the check.For example, the text data may include a numerical identifier of thecheck. The numerical identifier may be the check number. The numericalidentifier may include segment 508 (shown in FIG. 5). The text data mayinclude the amount. The amount may correspond to numbers handwritten bythe payer in field 514 (shown in FIG. 5). The amount may correspond towords handwritten by the payer within segment 516 (shown in FIG. 5).

At step the 612, the payer's bank compares the extracted information tothe payment information included in reconciliation file. At step 614,the payer's bank flags the image as an exception if the extractedinformation does not correspond to the payment information in thereconciliation file. If the extracted information does not correspond tothe payment information in the reconciliation file, the deposited checkmay be an unauthorized or fraudulent check.

At step 616, the payer's bank presents the exceptions to the payer forapproval or rejection. At step 618, the system informs the bill-payvendor and/or the payee of an approval or rejection by the payer. Afterbeing informed of a rejection, the payee may contact the payer tocontest the rejection.

FIG. 7 shows illustrative clearing process 700. A check deposited by apayee may be subject to clearing process 700. For the sake ofillustration, one or more of the steps of the process illustrated inFIG. 7 will be described as being performed by a “system.” The “system”may include one or more of the features of the apparatus, arrangementsor processes shown in FIGS. 1-6 and/or any other suitable device orapproach. The “system” may be provided by an entity. The entity may bean individual, an organization or any other suitable entity.

Process 700 may include participants such as a payer 713, drawee bank703, payee 711 and depositary bank 701.

Payer 713 may issue a check to payee 711. The check may include an orderissued by payer 713. The order may direct drawee bank 703 to pay anamount, the amount indicated on the check, to payee 711. The check maybe a paper check.

Payee 711 may deposit the check. The payee may deposit the check atself-service kiosk 709. The self-service kiosk may be an ATM. Payee 711may request that depositary bank 701 credit an account of the payeebased on the deposit of the check. Self-service kiosk 709 may beassociated with drawee bank 703. Self-service kiosk 709 may beassociated with depositary bank 701. Self-service kiosk 709 may beassociated with a financial institution that is neither drawee bank 703nor depositary bank 701.

Self-service kiosk 709 may be configured to generate digital image 707of the check. Self-service kiosk 709 may be configured to generate atransaction record 719. Transaction record 719 may include one or morefeatures of file entry 400 (shown in FIG. 4). Transaction record 719 maybe generated based on information extracted from digital image 707.Digital image 707 and transaction record 719 may be generated byself-service kiosk 709 or depositary bank 701.

Transaction record 719 may be transmitted to drawee bank 703.Self-service kiosk 709 may transmit image 707 to drawee bank 703. Draweebank 703 may be identified based on MICR data on the check. Drawee bank703 may be identified based on any suitable information extracted fromdigital image 707.

Drawee bank 703 may conduct a fraud detection analysis based ontransaction record 719. The fraud analysis may include comparing one ormore fields of transaction record 719 to financial information known oraccessible to drawee bank 703. The financial information known oraccessible to drawee bank 703 may include one or more fields of a ledgerentry maintained by drawee bank 703. The ledger entry may include one ormore features of file entry 400 (shown in FIG. 4).

Drawee bank 703 may transmit fraud indicator 717 to payer 713. Fraudindicator 717 may be transmitted to depositary bank 701 or payee 711.Fraud indicator 717 may be transmitted to payee 711 before payee 711ends the session at self-service kiosk 709.

Based on fraud indicator 717, drawee bank 703 may transfer funds 705 todepositary bank 701. The amount of funds 705 may correspond to an amountextracted from digital image 707.

Depositary bank 701 may transmit digital image 707 to drawee bank 703.Drawee bank 703 may securely store digital image 707. Drawee bank 703may securely store transaction record 719.

FIG. 8 shows illustrative time-line 800. Time-line 800 includes timesa-i. Times a-i may correspond to steps 302-318 (shown in FIG. 3). Timesa-i may correspond to steps in a check clearing process such as process700 (shown in FIG. 7).

During times a-h interest may accrue on funds held in an account of thepayer. The interest may accrue after a payee has deposited a checkagainst the account of the payer. The interest may continue to accrueuntil time i. Time i may represent a completion of a check clearingprocess. At time i, funds corresponding to an amount indicated on thecheck may be withdrawn from the account of the payer. At time i, thefunds corresponding to the amount indicated on the check may betransferred to an account of the payee.

During times a-h, funds corresponding to an amount indicated on thecheck may be transferred from an account of the payer to a holdingaccount controlled by the drawee bank. During times a-h interest mayaccrue on the amount in the holding account. The interest that accrueswhile the amount is in the holding account may be credited to the payer.At time i, the funds corresponding to the amount indicated on the checkmay be transferred to an account of the payee.

In some embodiments, funds corresponding to the amount indicated on thecheck deposited by the payee may remain available to the payer untiltime i. At time i, at a conclusion of a check clearing process, fundscorresponding to the amount indicated on the check deposited by thepayee may be withdrawn from the account of the payer and/or transferredto the payee. A drawee bank may allow a payer to reap benefits of a“float time” T_(I) associated with a check clearing process.

FIG. 9 shows illustrative arrangement 900. Arrangement 900 includestreasury management system 901. Treasury management system 901 mayinclude one or more features of treasury management system 209 (shown inFIG. 2).

Treasury management system 901 may be linked to a bill-pay vendor 903.The link may be an electronic communication link. Bill-pay vendor 903may electronically transmit payment information received from payer 907to treasury management system 901. Treasury management system 901 maypresent payment information received from bill-pay vendor 903 to payer907. Treasury management system 907 may present the payment informationreceived from bill-pay vendor 903 as a first check. Payer 907 mayconfirm or reject the payment information presented by treasurymanagement system 901.

Treasury management system 901 may receive payment information frompayee 905. For example, payee 905 may deposit a check signed by payer907. Treasury management system 901 may receive notification that payee907 has deposited the check. The notification may include a digitalimage of the deposited check.

Treasury management system 901 may reconcile payment informationreceived from bill-pay vendor 903 with information extracted from thecheck deposited by payee 905. Treasury management system 901 may presenta reconciliation file and/or a result of a reconciliation to a payer907.

Payer 907 may access treasury management system 901 using network 909.Network 909 may include a plurality of mobile devices. Each mobiledevice may include one or more features of server 101, terminal 141 orterminal 151 (shown in FIG. 1). Each mobile device may be in possessionof an employee of payer 907. Each mobile device may be associated withan entitlement. The entitlement may restrict access to treasurymanagement system 901. For example, using a mobile device on network909, some employees may only be able to view payment informationreceived from bill-pay vendor 903. Other employees may be able totransmit a confirm or reject decision over network 909. Over network909, some employees may view a result of a reconciliation processperformed by treasury management system 901.

FIG. 10A shows illustrative view 1001. View 1001 is shown on mobiledevice 1005. Mobile device 1005 may access treasury management system901 via network 909 (shown in FIG. 9). Treasury management system 901may generate affirmation file 1007. Affirmation file 1007 may begenerated based on payment information 400 (shown in FIG. 4).Affirmation file 1007 may be viewed on mobile device 1005. Paymentinformation 400 may be received from a bill-pay vendor such as bill-payvendor 203 (shown in FIG. 2) or bill-pay vendor 903 (shown in FIG. 9).

Affirmation file 1007 includes columns 1008, 1009, 1011, 1013, 1015,1017 and 1019. Affirmation file 1007 includes rows 1021, 1023, 1025 and1027. Each row in affirmation file 1007 may correspond to an entryincluded in the affirmation file 1007.

One or more of columns 1008, 1009, 1011, 1013, 1015, 1017 and 1019 maydisplayed to a user (not shown) of mobile device 1005 based on anentitlement associated with the user or an entitlement associated withmobile device 1005. One or more of rows 1021, 1023, 1025 and 1027 maydisplayed to a user (not shown) of mobile device 1005 based on anentitlement associated with the user or an entitlement associated withmobile device 1005.

Column 1008 shows an action associated with each row in affirmation file1007. For each row, a viewer of affirmation file 1007 may elect toaffirm or rejection the payment indicated in that row of affirmationfile 1007. For example, column 1008 shows that the payment in row 1021has been affirmed by a viewer. Based on the affirmation of the viewer,if a check or other payment method is deposited or requested by a payee,a treasury management system may initiate a transfer of funds from apayer to the payee. Illustrative treasury management systems may includetreasury management system 209 (shown in FIG. 2) and treasury managementsystem 901 (shown in FIG. 9).

Column 1009 shows an identifier associated with each row in affirmationfile 1007. The identifier may be assigned to a row based on a source ofthe payment information included in the row. For example, the identifierassociated with row 1021 is “BP333.” “BP” may indicate to a viewer thatthe payment information included in row 1021 originated from a bill-payvendor. Column 1011 shows a date associated with each row in theaffirmation file. Column 1013 shows a payee associated with each row.The payment information may correspond to a payment requested by a payerto be made to the payee. For example, row 1021 may correspond to apayment made by a bill-pay vendor to payee XYZ Corp. on behalf of apayer.

Column 1015 shows an amount associated with each row in affirmation file1007. Column 1017 shows a currency associated with the amount shown incolumn 1015. For example, columns 1015 and 1017 show that a payerrequested that a bill-pay vendor transmit a payment of 120,000.00 U.S.dollars. Column 1019 shows an account associated with each row inaffirmation file 1007. Each row may be associated with an accountdesignated by a payer for payment to the payee shown in column 1013,amount shown in column 1015, currency shown in column 1017 or any othersuitable criteria.

FIG. 10B shows illustrative view 1003. View 1003 includes reconciliationfile 1029 shown on mobile device 1005. Reconciliation file includescolumns 1031, 1033, 1035, 1037, 1038, 1039, 1041 and 1043.Reconciliation file includes rows 1045, 1047, 1049, 1051 and 1053.

One or more of columns 1031, 1033, 1035, 1037, 1038, 1039, 1041 and 1043may displayed to a viewer (not shown) using mobile device 1005 based onan entitlement associated with the user or an entitlement associatedwith mobile device 1005. One or more of rows 1045, 1047, 1049, 1051 and1053 may displayed to a user (not shown) of mobile device 1005 based onan entitlement associated with the user or an entitlement associatedwith mobile device 1005.

A treasury management system may generate reconciliation file 1029 basedon information extracted from a plurality of digital images and fromaffirmation file 1007 (shown in FIG. 10A). Reconciliation file 1029 maybe generated based on correlating each row in affirmation file 1007 toinformation extracted from a plurality of digital images. The pluralityof digital may correspond to paper checks cashed by a plurality ofpayees. Each digital image may include one or more features of image 500(shown in FIG. 5). Column 1031 of reconciliation file 1029 may present adigital image corresponding to payment information in a row ofreconciliation file 1029.

For example, row 1053 does not include an affirm/reject indicator incolumn 1033. Row 1053 may be an exception. A viewer of reconciliationfile 1029 may access the image presented in column 1031 to review theimage corresponding to row 1053.

If the information extracted from a digital image corresponds to a row(entry) in affirmation file 1007 (shown in FIG. 10A), a treasurymanagement system may determine an action to be performed. The actionmay be determined based on a selection indicated in column 1008 of theaffirmation file. If the information extracted from the digital imagedoes not correspond to an entry in affirmation file 1007, paymentinformation extracted from the image may be flagged as an exception.Exceptions may be presented to a payer for further review.

FIGS. 11A, 11B and 11C show illustrative views 1101, 1103 and 1107.Views 1101 and 1103 show illustrative entitlements applied whenaccessing a treasury management system via mobile device 1105.

View 1101 shows filtered version 1102 of affirmation table 1007 (shownin FIG. 10A). In filtered version 1102, column 1008 is inaccessible to auser of mobile device 1005. View 1101 shows that the user of mobiledevice 1105 may be unable to elect to affirm or reject paymentinformation on behalf of a payer.

View 1103 shows filtered version 1104 of affirmation file 1007 (shown inFIG. 10A). In filtered version 1104, column 1008 and rows 1025 and 1027affirmation file 1007 are inaccessible to a user of mobile device 1105.View 1103 shows that the user of mobile device 1105 may be unable toelect to affirm or reject payment information on behalf of a payer. View1103 shows that the user of mobile device 1105 may be only able to viewpayment information associated with a bill-pay vendor “BP.”

View 1107 shows filtered version 1109 of reconciliation table 1029(shown in FIG. 10B). In filtered version 1109, columns 1035-1043 ofreconciliation file 1029 are inaccessible to a user of mobile device1005. View 1107 shows that the user of mobile device 1105 may be able toview images associated with an affirmation or rejection of a payment.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the steps shownand described herein may be performed in other than the recited orderand that one or more steps illustrated may be optional. The methods ofthe above-referenced embodiments may involve the use of any suitableelements, steps, computer-executable instructions, or computer-readabledata structures. In this regard, other embodiments are disclosed hereinas well that can be partially or wholly implemented on acomputer-readable medium, for example, by storing computer-executableinstructions or modules or by utilizing computer-readable datastructures.

Thus, systems and methods for bill-pay integration have been provided.Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the present inventioncan be practiced by other than the described embodiments, which arepresented for purposes of illustration rather than of limitation. Thepresent invention is limited only by the claims that follow.

1. A central management apparatus (“CMA”) controlled by a drawee bank,the CMA comprising: a non-transitory computer readable medium havingcomputer readable program code embodied therein; and a processorconfigured to execute the computer readable program code wherein thecomputer readable program code when executed by the processor configuresthe CMA to: receive from a bill-pay vendor first payment information,the first payment information displayed on a check issued by the billvendor on behalf of a payer; receive second payment informationdisplayed on a check issued by the payer; and display the first paymentinformation and the second payment information to the payer; receive aconfirmation of the first payment information from the payer; receive aconfirmation of the second payment information from the payer; and debitan account of the payer held at the drawee bank in response to theconfirmation of the first payment information and the second paymentinformation.
 2. The CMA of claim 1, wherein: the first paymentinformation comprises: a first identifier; a first payment amount; andthe account at the drawee bank; and the second payment informationcomprises: a second identifier; a second payment amount; and the accountat the drawee bank.
 3. The CMA of claim 2 the computer readable programcode when executed by the processor configures the CMA to assign a thirdidentifier to the first payment information; wherein: the thirdidentifier is a member of a set of identifiers, the set of identifierscorresponding to the bill-pay vendor; and the set of identifiers doesnot include the second identifier.
 4. The CMA of claim 1 the computerreadable program code when executed by the processor configures the CMAto: receive, from a payee, a request to debit the account of the payerheld at the drawee bank; reconcile the request with the first paymentinformation; if the request of the payee reconciles with the firstpayment information, debit the account of the payer held at the draweebank; and if the request of the payee does not reconcile with the firstpayment information, associate the request with an exception flag. 5.The CMA of claim 4 the computer readable program code when executed bythe processor configures the CMA to: in response to detection of theexception flag, present the request to the payer; and in response to arejection of the request by the payer, credit the account of the payerheld at the drawee bank.
 6. The CMA of claim 4, wherein, when therequest is one of a plurality of requests and each of the plurality ofrequests are associated with the exception flag, the computer readableprogram code in said CMA when executed by the processor configures theCMA to: present each of the plurality of requests to the payer; for eachof the plurality of requests: receive a selection of a check service;and apply the check service to the request. 7-20. (canceled)
 21. The CMAof claim 6, wherein the check service is: a stop payment service; anapprove payment service; or a return payment service.